2012 sees the unveiling of Black’s first narrative feature as writer/director. Based loosely on his own upbringing in the South, Virginia stars Jennifer Connelly in the title role as a beautiful yet unhinged single mother who struggles to raise her son, while dreaming of fleeing their small Southern boardwalk town. Her long time affair with Sheriff Richard Tipton (Ed Harris), a devout Mormon who’s married with children, is thrown into question when he decides to run for public office. Virginia and Tipton’s relationship grows increasingly strained when Emmett becomes romantically entangled with Tipton’s daughter, Jessie (Emma Roberts).

Anthem sat down with Black in New York City to discuss Virginia, which opens this Friday in New York and Los Angeles.

How did the New York premiere go over yesterday?

It was incredibly positive, which was such a welcome shift for this project. We had a tough time at the Toronto Film Festival—the vibe was rough. It might’ve been me projecting my own feelings because I had a film that wasn’t complete and ready to screen at Toronto. I’ll never make that mistake again. I’ll fight and scream, and do whatever necessary to keep that from happening from now on. New York was, really, the first time I premiered the film with an audience in its completed form. I was very nervous. Certainly, in that moment, where you walk into the little reception afterwards at the Crosby Street Hotel—ask any filmmaker this—within three seconds, you can tell if the vibe is genuine or not. You can tell whether people found something of value in it or if they’re just being nice and, usually, the most telling thing is how long they stay and how long the party lasts. [Laughs] Walking in, there was such warmth and I didn’t have to go up to people because they were coming to me. It has been my experience on this film where women in particular have had a very strong response. It was mostly the women in the room that were coming up to me with a defining moment that they wanted to share, some still with tears in their eyes. It felt really good for a project like this, which I struggled with for so long. It took almost a decade to get made. So, the people stayed and we got really drunk, which is also a really good sign. [Laughs]

Sounds like a good time.

It was a great night and, you know, it’s not necessarily a film for everyone, but the people who love it, boy, they certainly really dig it. That means a lot to me. It was 8 years ago that I finished the first draft of this.

It was a long journey.

It was a long journey. It has grown increasingly tough to talk about creatively because, like anyone, we all mature. We all learn our lessons and there’s been this constant for almost a decade of Virginia, this movie about the emotional world that I grew up in. After last night, I can finally move on and deal with the emotional world of now.

Within those 8 years, did the film go through many manifestations or is the final product pretty much what you had envisioned at the very beginning?

No, it’s not at all like what I envisioned at the very beginning, but I think that’s the answer that you’d get with any film to be perfectly honest. It’s very different. I did a lot of rewrites along the way. It got shorter and I condensed a lot of things. It used to be more of a pastiche of characters in the South. Now it’s really focused on Virginia, specifically. Some of that happened in the rewrites and some in the editing room during its last pass where we really focus in on Jennifer Connelly, her character and her performance. Those are sizable changes. The landscape, the themes and the tone have always been there in that they were always risky and I hope this is clear to people. It’s this thing I experienced growing up where I would talk about my childhood.

What was your upbringing like?

Everything from being from the South, being Mormon, being in the military, being very poor with a physically paralyzed single mother, and also being raised by a family member who has the same brand of schizophrenia that Jennifer portrays in the film. I lay out all of these things that I had to go through in order to survive and people look at me like it’s some sort of tragic story. Then I have to correct them and say, “The South isn’t bad. In the South, we wear our trauma like a badge of honor. We’re more defined by our dreams. When we’re disconnected from our realities, often times, the better. You just have to read some Tennessee Williams in order to know that it’s true.” Where did you grow up?

South Korea.

You’re kidding. Where in South Korea?

Seoul. I moved to the States when I was 8, so I feel much more American for obvious reasons.

My stepdad was in the Air Force and he was in Seoul in like 1988 or 1989. I have this fascination with South Korea. Do you go back there a lot? I’m going to start interviewing you now. [Laughs]

I haven’t gone back. I don’t think I want to be gay and live in South Korea. Or at least my mom discouraged me from doing that and I agree with her in a lot of ways.

That’s why I have to win this federal court case in California. You should be allowed to marry your future husband.

What was the collaborative process like between you and Jennifer? Did you give her a lot of creative freedom?

Yes, and it was a dream come true for me. Considering all the problems that this film encountered during production like the financing, the horrific weather in Michigan, having to re-cut the film, we were truly blessed to have Jennifer Connelly there. We had an initial meeting via my agent 5 years ago when I was still a kid TV writer for Big Love—I wasn’t even producing that show at this point. I flew out to New York and met her at the Bowery Hotel restaurant, and she was the most beautiful woman that I’d ever seen in my life. It was enough to make any gay boy question their sexuality. [Laughs] It was cold out and I was sweating just talking to her. She noticed that within the first 10 minutes of our meeting, but she completely disarmed me. I found her to be really funny and brave. Oftentimes, you meet actors of her caliber and you sense a lot of this defensiveness ego, and there was absolutely none of that there with Jennifer. I saw so clearly what my agent had told me, which was that she could fulfill this role in terms of both the emotion and the humor.

Did you strike a deal during this first meeting?

Jennifer signed on right then and there. I told her, “I would very much like for you to do this movie,” and she responded, “Well, I would very much like to do this movie!” How did this just happen? It was a miracle. My life was turned upside down because this tiny movie that we never thought would get made became this project all of a sudden. But I did step away from it for 2 years to just take care of Milk. When I came back, Jennifer was still interested and we got it made. Every day, she was just fearless. This was the first movie for a lot of people involved, including myself, so when I ran into trouble, Jennifer was always there for me as a creative collaborator. I don’t think you get that a lot in this industry. I’m just going to gush about her because I do love her so much. I think she brings to this a real understanding of what it means to be a mother, the success and failures combined. She understands that in a real way, being a caring mother herself in her personal life. She was also willing to do insane things that I think a lot of people would shy away from.

Can you recall something specific from the shoot?

There was this scene, a very emotional moment, where Virginia is walking home with her son after attending a political debate where they sort of stop to talk. There’s this moment where he gives Virginia a piggy-back ride and she really felt all the beats of the scene. It was one of those few moments where she connected with her son in the movie. And she was shooting these scenes in her little summer dress when it’s below 30 degrees. It was like that for the entire shoot. We were trying to match West Michigan for Virginia in the summer and it was below freezing. There was ice everywhere. Jennifer was willing to do it take after take and shivering in the van in-between takes. Through her shivering, she would ask if there was anything else that she could do.

I think I just fell in love with her.

[Laughs] She’s so committed. She’s so good at snapping into the moment and embody her character, despite all of these external forces working against her. Without her, we wouldn’t have the film that we have.

Has your mother seen Virginia by any chance?

My mom saw the first version in Toronto. She wasn’t able to come up for this in New York last night, unfortunately. This was always her favorite script of mine. She already knew what it was about since she reads everything that I write. Oftentimes, she gives me the same response to my work like when she watches Big Love. She goes, “Do you find it necessary to share that with the whole world?” [Laughs] I tell her, “As long as you don’t tell the whole world which moments are based on our factual history.” This goes for Virginia as well. Although it’s not pure autobiography—my mother isn’t mentally disabled, she’s physically disabled—she certainly recognizes, thematically, what comes from our lives because it’s pretty obvious. Having said that, she loves this film. I have a really great mother and she’s a strong woman to have survived everything that she did, and I think she knows that. Yes, we lived a troubled life and had to do things that she wishes we didn’t have to do, but she knows that she’s coming from a really good, strong place. She did the best with what she had. I don’t think she’s apologizing for anything. I think we turned out pretty well, us boys.

Maybe this film could serve as a gift for your mother.

Maybe… I think she would rather have me make a romantic comedy with a really happy ending. That would be the gift that she would really appreciate. She has asked a couple times why I can’t make a happy film. [Laughs] So, that would be my gift to her.

Although Maïwenn is most widely recognized on an international scale for playing Diva Plavalaguna, she’s a household name in her native France. Ushered into the entertainment industry by her mother, actress Catherine Belkhodja, Maiwenn later chronicled the difficult experience of growing up as a child actress in her one-woman stage show, Chick Pea. At 36, she’s no stranger to the ups and downs of love and fame—she was once married to Besson and had a child together before he left her for Jovovich during the filming of The Fifth Element. After her breakup with Besson, she proceeded to star in several notable movies including High Tension opposite Cecile de France before expanding her footprint across the moviemaking spectrum as a writer and director.

Polisse, which she co-wrote, directed and stars in, is the latest pit stop in her creative journey. The winner of the Jury Prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and the recipient of a whopping 13 César Award nominations, it’s also one of our favorite films of 2012. Having spent many months with real Child Protection Unit officers in Paris, Maiwenn presents a narrative based on real child investigation cases. With the aid of a dynamic and committed cast—Karin Viard, Joey Starr (French rapper) and Marina FoïsShe, among others—Polisse conveys the emotional strain of the CPU’s work with gritty realism. They not only deal with the stress of their jobs, but the inevitable fall-out in their personal lives. As the cases, confessions and interrogations pile up, the squad members come to learn that they only have each other as a support system in their uphill battle.

Not only has Maïwenn set for herself the enormously difficult task of handling touchy subjects such as pedophilia, child abuse and rape, she also confronts the much harder challenge in communicating and humanizing the important work of the CPU to help viewers identify and trigger their own potential for change. Polisse builds a taut narrative, at moments so powerful, that once the tension suddenly snaps, it’s about as visceral as movies get. At times hard to watch, but punctuated with great humor, Polisse erupts in an unexpected, dramatic climax that ultimately underscores an important universal message: If your cause is just, never, ever give up.

Polisse opens in New York on May 18 with a national roll-out to follow. It will be available through Sundance Selects’ VOD service on May 25.

As his notoriety grew, he crossed paths with Thomas Bullock―at the time of A.R.E. Weapons fame and of the Wicked crew in S.F.―and formed Rub ‘N’ Tug. The international dates and remix offers quickly started rolling in. Since then, Duncan has also gone on to pursue endeavors with a sort of who’s who of New York City’s dance music elite, getting together in the studio with the likes of Olivier Spencer to create Still Going; Jason Drummond, a.k.a. DJ Spun, to make How & Why?; and a handful of others―like Justin Vandervolgen of !!! and TBD―to craft music, a good amount of which has never officially seen the light of day.

We’ve always been huge supporters of Eric’s, so we decided to catch up with him and see what’s going on in his world right about now.

What are you currently working on, both on your own and with others?

Well, we just finished a two-week tour of Japan with the C.O.M.B.i. & ENE Records crew out there. It was me, Justin V. (TBD), and Paul T. (Sarcastic). I think it was, like, six or seven cities. A good one. Another thing in the works is for Rub ‘N’ Tug. We have been asked to curate a six-week show at White Columns Gallery in NYC opening June 9. A lot of great friends and artists are contributing to that. Rub ‘N’ Tug will also make a super-limited, special party record with old recordings from our parties, and we’re going to physically hand paint/design all the records/jackets ourselves, so each one will be unique. [Liv Spencer and I] just released the first record on Still Going Records called “D117” and the next one is coming very soon. Also, SGR will be releasing digitally as well. A video was just finished for Still Going’s “D117” which will go live when the digital comes out… it’s pretty cool and very exciting.  I’m also doing a few Dr. Dunks remixes on my own, coming out on Crue-L and ENE as well as few other small labels. Just trying to stay active and happy.

What prompted you and Liv Spencer to start Still Going Records and what’s the plan with that imprint?

We just have all the means to do it ourselves so why not, right? We can control the output and, initially, it was just to release our own music, but we’re open to other projects, even possibly our other groups. Whatever feels right and makes sense, I guess.

When’s the Rub ‘N’ Tug LP coming out? Who all was involved in its creation?

Man, I’ve been answering this question for three-plus years. Not really sure. The tunes are really close… just needs an unknown element to kick it over. The people involved were all friends of ours… all great musicians who actually attended quite a few of the Rub ‘N’ Tug parties. Matt Sweeney on guitar, Pete Z. on keys, Justin V. on bass, Spencer Sweeney on drums, and Cornelius Bird on the mic. And I almost forgot―Rene Lopez on timbales and percussion.

What are you most excited about for 2012?

Well, firstly, being with my girlfriend Edda P. and traveling around with her. That’s always exciting. Secondly, a lot of the things that I’m involved in. Still Going Records, the White Columns show with Rub ‘N’ Tug… also, Liv and I are thinking of bringing a more live element into the mix and taking that on the road.

What was the funnest gig you played―on your own, as RNT, whatever―in the past year?

You know, there hasn’t been much out of the ordinary as far as gigs go in the last year or so, unfortunately.

Favorite NYC venue at present? Why?

Man, things change so quick in NYC that it’s hard to have a venue that sticks. I would say Mangiami, the Italian restaurant at 9 Stanton St. in the Lower East Side. Great food! And you never know who might be playing records at the end of the bar there…

Have you acquired any cool gear recently and, if so, what?

I got laced nicely by the good people at Generic Surplus…really classy shoes―thanks for that!

What’s your favorite record of 2012 so far?

Still Going, “D117” on Still Going Records and Still Going “Work That Shit Party” on Still Going Records. Shameless self promotion.

Are there non-music things you’re looking forward to doing this spring/summer?

Going on my annual trip to Iceland with my girl Edda P. It’s pretty amazing there, especially in the summer.

This interview originally appeared on Generic Surplus’ Tumblr.

Batmanglij’s Sound of My Voice concerns a pair of documentary filmmakers, Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius), that infiltrate a cult led by a mysterious young woman, Maggie (played by Marling), who claims to have time-traveled from the year 2054. According to Maggie, she returned to the year 2011 in order to find and educate people before they face a series of catastrophic events that have made—will make— the future very different from our own.

Sound of My Voice opens in select theaters April 27.

I saw you hanging around the Bing Lounge at Sundance.

2011 or 2012?

This year.

It’s funny you saw me because I was just there for 48 hours. I saw 9 movies.

Did you find something good?

I don’t remember them all, but the ones that I liked the most were Beasts of the Southern Wild, which Fox bought and I’m happy about, and a movie in the NEXT section called Compliance. That blew my mind.

I actually saw that a couple days ago.

Did you like it?

It was very provocative and well executed. It’s so crazy that it’s based on true events because it seems so implausible that something like that could happen in real life.

I know! I thought it was really well directed. I can’t wait to see what Craig Zobel does next.

Was that his first feature?

Second, I think…

Let’s talk about your beginnings at Georgetown University. Were you a film major there?

They actually don’t have a film major. I was studying anthropology and English. That’s where I met Mike Cahill in a philosophy class and we became best friends. We both wanted to make movies, so we took a screenwriting class together. It was taught by this cult screenwriting professor and he was very strict. We were really thrilled to be in his class. One of his students had graduated the year before we started—his name was Jonah—and he had written a script with his filmmaker brother who had, I think, made one movie prior to that. Jonah had sent the script to professor Glavin—that was his name—and he gave it to his students, including Mike and I. Mike was like, “Woah! This is revolutionary!” and I was like, “I don’t understand this thing! How will this ever become a movie?” Then the movie came out in theaters like 6 months later and we went to see it, and it blew my mind. Do you know what movie I’m talking about?

I’m drawing a blank.

Memento.

Really? Wow… And how did Brit Marling become part of your team? I think she mentioned seeing a short film at the Georgetown Film Festival that you and Mike made together.

After we saw Memento, Mike and I realized that we had to start making a short film, and we did. That won the Georgetown Film Festival and Brit saw the movie. She came up to us afterwards and asked us, “Can I work with you guys?” and we said, “Of course!”

What was it about her that won you over in that first encounter?

Have you met her yet?

I met her right here at the Crosby Hotel when she was promoting Mike’s Another Earth.

She has that certain quality. She was 17 when I met her and I was 20. She had the same quality then. I didn’t know then that she could carry a movie, but I knew that people would want to watch her. Every year since, it becomes more and more clear to me that she’s someone that you want to spend time with in a movie theater.

It was so mind blowing to see her breakout at Sundance because I went in not knowing what to expect. Everyone was going to talk about Lizzie Olsen regardless because she has that clout around her, but Brit truly came out of left field.

And she’s writing these things herself. It’s a big deal!

Where did the idea for Sound of My Voice come from?

I think we were feeling a lot of things in 2008. We sort of committed ourselves to doing this kind of work because I wanted to be a director and Brit wanted to be an actress. We taught ourselves to write in order to accomplish these goals. There was no confirmation that we could actually pull it off, so there was a lot of doubt. We were looking for meaning in our lives and we were looking for it everywhere. I think that’s what Sound of My Voice is about. I often think about “Hansel and Gretel” when I think about Sound of My Voice. I think about the trail of crumbs that they left behind. We were in a very claustrophobic time when we developed this story. Sound of My Voice is really about following the crumbs out of the forest and towards the light, or out of the basement and into the light.

What was your overall stylistic approach to the film? It’s very minimalist in terms of the color palette and production design.

The whole film is colored in what I consider “the color of tea.” It’s the different shades of tea. I think that adds to the film’s cohesiveness. Usually in film, they shift the colors for each scene to mirror the up and downs of the narrative. It will go from blues to yellows to reds or whatever, but I didn’t want to have that in my film. I was more interested in having this feeling of claustrophobia build and and this cohesiveness that you’re talking about. We accomplished that through color and limiting the size of the shots.

The film is structured in a very interesting way. It’s divided into chapters almost.

We were very inspired by Charles Dickens and the idea of the episodic or chapter serial. I love page turners! Why can’t a movie be a page turner? No one talks about a movie being a page turner.

Didn’t you express interest in having Sound of My Voice become an episodic series for the web if it didn’t work as a full-length feature at a certain point?

That wasn’t prior to distribution. Our thought at the beginning was that we didn’t care where this movie played as long as we could make a movie. If it means that we release each chapter on its own on the internet, then we’re down for that. Brit always said this in interviews: “We didn’t want to wait for permission.” You know what I mean? We just wanted to make a movie.

Did Fox Searchlight buy the film very close to the premiere at Sundance?

They didn’t see the film at the festival. They bought it right after Sundance was over.

I’m becoming more and more intrigued by the way Fox Searchlight brand movies. They do such a good job as most recently exemplified by this movie, Another Earth and Martha Marcy May Marlene. How involved are you as the filmmaker?

Beautiful, right? It’s all to Fox’s credit. The people at Fox Searchlight has a lot of taste and integrity. They really wanted to do something different with this movie. Low budget movies have to be marketed and released in a different way. We had the premiere for Sound of My Voice last night at MoMA and it was so nice. Everything was small with a low-key vibe, but everything was beautifully, elegantly done.

When you work on a low-budget film, what are some of the concessions that you have to make? And what freedoms are you afforded?

I think you have more freedom than anything else. You’re just allowed to play. You obviously don’t get to stay at hotels or fly business class, but who really cares about stuff like that? Ultimately, you’re there to make a movie. When there isn’t a lot of money involved, there aren’t a lot of cooks involved, so it’s a very pure experience. I don’t know how many filmmakers have actually experienced what it’s like to make an ultra low-budget movie. I think a lot of people think low-budget means a million dollars. We had a fraction of that for this. When you’re shooting on SLRs and you have a crew of people that are there just because they love to make movies, and not because they’re getting paid, you have a very pure experience. Park Chan-Wook saw the film recently and he said to me, “Gosh! I’m going to go make a movie on an SLR. Who needs all this other stuff?” I think directors look at that with this sort of longing. Of course, I look at Chris Nolan’s 100 million dollar budget movies with a certain longing. I would like to operate at the really high budget echelon or ultra low. I think the middle is where you run into a lot of problems because you can’t necessarily get everything you want, but when you’re low budget, you can get everything you want because you can always choose to shoot real life and real life is free.

In terms of creativity, like you mentioned earlier, there are less cooks in the kitchen with low-budget. You have the creative license to do whatever you want.

Totally. You see that in Sound of My Voice. It’s so original, a lot of it. I know it’s my own movie and I shouldn’t say stuff like that, but it is.

No, you’re absolutely right. Could you compare that low-budgeted experience to The East, which is your sophomore feature with a fairly large budget? Is that wrapped now?

Yeah, we wrapped it in December. They were actually very similar experiences because we were just slaves to making a movie. I often think about filmmaking as digging something out. Brit and I pick up a shovel and start digging, and you see the shape of something under the earth. In the case of The East, we got great actors like on Sound of My Voice. On that, Patty Clarkson came and picked up the shovel. Ellen Page came and picked up the shovel. Alexander Skarsgard picked up two shovels. [Laughs.] We’re shoveling away together, meanwhile, the costume designer comes, the cinematographer comes and the production designer comes. Gosh, everyone’s just digging away. At the end, there’s this thing, this movie that exists. I found this overarching feeling on Sound of My Voice that carried over into The East.

How did The East come about?

Brit and I had written The East before we even shot Sound of My Voice. They were always sister movies for us, films that captured a certain moment in our lives.

How did Scott Free Productions get involved in breathing life into that one?

Mike Costigan, who runs Scott Free, saw Sound of My Voice at Sundance and I think it was his favorite film there. We said, “Scott Free is too established to make an anarchist film,” and he said to us, “You’d be surprised.” [Laughs.]

And you’ve been vocal that there was always a sequel planned for Sound of My Voice. Are you still plowing forward with that?

Yeah. We planned it out to be a trilogy or a TV series. There’s a lot more story to tell and we have it planned out. But it also works as a standalone movie.

In the wake of her parent’s death, Iris (Snow) struggles to make ends meet while caring for her terminally ill younger brother. Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs), a seemingly philanthropic aristocrat, expresses an interest in helping them. When he invites her to an exclusive dinner party, she accepts. Also attending the dinner party are seven other desperate individuals. They soon find themselves trapped in Lambrick’s mansion and forced to play a sadistic game of Would You Rather, where the winner will be awarded untold amounts of money. As the game progresses, the dilemma Iris and the other players face grow increasingly deadly.

Would You Rather has yet to see a release date in 2012, but this week sees the theatrical premiere of 96 Minutes, which also sees Snow push away from fluffy material that she’s most often associated with. Carly (Snow), a rich girl who’s reluctantly bound for law school, and Lena (Christian Serratos), recently stung by a cheating boyfriend, are two young women in the wrong place at the wrong time. The sudden victims of a violent carjacking, Lena is shot by the trigger-happy Kevin (J. Michael Trautmann). Held hostage by Kevin and his accomplice (Evan Ross), Carly desperately struggles to keep her friend alive and bargain for their release.

96 Minutes hits select theaters on April 27.

When did you first decide to give acting a try? Was there a decisive moment?

I started acting when I was really young. My mom actually introduced me to it when I was a kid. I started out in commercials, but when I was 12 years old, I was on a soap opera called Guiding Light. There was this scene where I was forced into a really emotional place and I remember getting this weird high afterwards. I had never felt anything like that before. I just knew that I always wanted to have that feeling. So you just forget about all the 12-year-old problems and just do your thing. I knew that I wasn’t going to be a dancer at that point, or a lawyer.

What are 12-year-old problems?

[Laughs.]

How did you juggle your adolescence with your commitment to acting?

It was probably a little difficult, especially when I was in school. It was hard to juggle being tutored on set and then also acting at the same time. You know, it’s always challenging to juggle a professional life with a personal one and figuring out how to balance the two. To me, not one is more important than the other. You need to have hobbies and friends, but you also need to be driven and apply yourself.

Is it still very difficult to watch yourself onscreen or does that get easier over time?

It’s always really hard for me to see myself onscreen. It’s never something that I like doing. It’s very surreal. It often feels like you’re watching somebody else, like a friend of mine or something. It does get easier over time in terms of judging what you look like, but as you get older, you learn to deal with it better. In terms of critiquing my performance, I’m never one to watch something that I’ve done and say, “Wow, that was really good!” I’m constantly wanting to do better.

How did you get involved with 96 Minutes?

I was given the script about 4 years ago. It was something that my agent had sent me and no one was attached to it yet. I met with the director, Aimee [Lagos], because I was blown away by the script. I kind of begged her to be in it because I felt so connected to the character and the story. I thought it was a really important story to tell. She told me that it was getting close to being made, but it went on the back burner for a while and I just kept with it for about a year and a half. When she called me again to tell me that she was going to start casting, that’s when Evan Ross signed on followed by Christian [Serratos] and J [Jonathan Michael Trautmann]. Now, it’s taken 2 years to come out, but I’m glad that people are finally going to see it.

Are you very structured when you prep for a role? Where’s the starting point?

My preparation work is probably a little bit more intense when I actually get to set because a lot of how I want to work is based on instincts and reactions. Preparing for this particular role was a little tricky because I was building a character that’s very sure of herself and empowered, but once she gets in that car and she’s at her most vulnerable state, I wanted everything to play out naturally. You can’t really research what somebody would do in a carjacking situation. I had to base it completely off of human instincts while it’s happening in the moment.

You cry a whole lot in this movie. What was the overall atmosphere like on set when the cameras weren’t rolling?

That’s the difficult part of filming a movie like this. I like to get worked up a little bit and put myself in a different head space. Evan, who is a genius, can go right from laughing hysterically to crying without even thinking twice about it. I can’t do that! [Laughs.] It was also hard because he kept making me laugh. We became such good friends and we would be constantly playing around. So it wasn’t a very intense atmosphere on set. As much as the movie is really sad, there were a lot of fun moments as well.

You hear about these actors who like to stay in character as much as possible throughout the entire shoot even when they aren’t filming. That just sounds so miserable.

I think that could be a good method for the right person. For me, there was absolutely no way that I could be in that kind of head space, hysterical and fighting for my life, for 18 days of shooting.

This was shot in Atlanta?

Yes.

What are some upsides and downsides to shooting on location outside of places like New York and Los Angeles?

There are some good benefits to shooting outside of New York and L.A. because you end up bonding with the cast and crew so much more. You get to know each other a little bit better and really become this family. I think that was important for this movie in particular because it was just so intense. We felt safe around one another and we could really explore without being afraid. The upsides of shooting in New York and L.A. is that you can drive home every day after work and be with your family and your dogs. At the same time, it can take you out of the movie that you’re working on much easier.

Did you have time to explore on your off time?

I always make time to go exploring. I spent a lot of time walking around looking for vintage shops around Marietta. They have great vintage shops there. I got a lot of records and things like that. Evan took us to a couple of clubs in Atlanta and they treat him like a king there. [Laughs.] I loved spending time in Atlanta.

You’ve done a ton of TV work along with films. Do you have a preference? Not just in terms of material, but in terms of the commitment and workload.

There are definitely benefits to both. I understand why some people love TV. It’s because you get this structured schedule and form a family with the people you work with. I love movies because you get to make new friends each time. You go to new places and experience new things. You get to explore different characters a lot more when you work in film. If I’m able to continue making movies without any downtime, I would probably still do movies. But I like TV too…

What kind of projects are you being offered these days? Is there a “Brittany Snow role” that keep coming your way?

I think people generally see me as someone who plays very light roles that’s based in comedy. They see me as this typical girl a lot of the time. Hopefully the kinds of movies that I’ve been exploring recently will open up more opportunities. I just want to keep this going.

I was looking at the list of movies you have coming out and Would You Rather intrigued me a whole lot. What stage of production is that in?

Would You Rather is already wrapped. I executive produced that movie as well. I’ve seen a couple cuts of it and it’s really cool. It’s definitely what horror fans will love. It has a really interesting concept, which is based on the board game Would You Rather. It’s a twisted movie and it was really intense to work on. I think that one will come out really soon.

You were once attached to Clocktower, a film adaptation of one of my favorite video games growing up. What happened to that?

Gosh, that was probably like 4 or 5 years ago! [Laughs.]

I had to ask. I was really amped up about it.

I don’t even know what happened to that one. I loved that script too… It was really cool, but some business stuff went down.

We chatted with the guy about his roots, the early days of his career, the unique concept of “M”, and some especially interesting parties he’s played as of late. Read on for the full story!

What was your first musical experience?

Listening to mechanical organs in a circus. Beatboxing at the playground when i was seven years old.

How did you get into the world of dance music? And then production? What was the first thing you released?

I was listening a lot to the radio during my youth. At the time in Paris (’84 – ’90) some radios where playing some Art of Noise, new wave, early hip-hop, and house, all mixed together. I had some really shitty toys (a Casio mini sampler), and tried to replicate what Iwas listening to. I learned by my own, making a lot of mistakes that became part of my sound. The first release was “Disco Cubizm” on versatile in 1996, with a Daft Punk Remix. I suppose that helped a lot.

How did you meet Gilbert Cohen? And when (and why?) did you start collaborating?

I met Gilbert again throught the radio. Radio Nova was one of the only radio [station] that was playing a blend of interesting music that you couldn’t hear anywhere else. (We’re talking pre-Internet days, [by the way].) So, I send a cassette to Gilbert, who was working there. It happened [that] he was planning to set up a label―that’s how [our relationship came to be].

Then, some time after, he was offered to do a remix of famous music concrete artist Pierre Henry… a ballet with Maurice Bejart from 1967. He knew I was into that sound, so we made the remix together, and from that point kept on making music together.

Your first release was on his label, Versatile, right? Tell me a little about that…

As i told you, Gilbert was setting up his label, and the first release happened to be “Disco Cubizm”. He had [recently] met Daft Punk at the time, and they were starting to gain recognition. And they made this crazy remix.

What compelled you to start Château Flight with him?

Stopping making music on my own. Sharing ideas. Having fun.

You were intimately involved in the French house scene in the 90s, obviously. What was your favorite aspect of that era? Do you miss anything about those years?

I always felt a bit on the left-field side of things during that period. I think I had not yet found my sound. At the time, things were more simple and naive. That is probably what I regret most. It would be impossible now to be in the same state of mind. At the time, you could make five tracks in a day and be happy with it… now it takes ages to finish just one. I still like that naive aspect of dance music, though. Now, sometimes, I find it somehow too sophisticated and less spontaneous.

Tell me a little about meeting the Daft Punk guys and doing that “Around the World” remix for them. How did that all happen?

It was a great honnor to do that remix. And because we met with the “Disco Cubizm” remix, I knew O had to do something special.

I love “M” Megamix and really dig the idea behind it. How did it come about? What inspired you to make a live mix into an album?

Thank you.

I was finding a way to make an instrumental dance music album without being too boring. I mean, that genre is based on 12″s and the whole experience you can have in a club. The album format in that case doesn’t really fit [the genre]. So, presenting it like a mix/mixtape, with short traks, was the only acceptable way to do it.

And why is it called “M” Megamix, anyway?

Because I love the letter “M” . And because it’s a megamix. Odd, old-fashioned name. But that’s what it is, after all.

On that note, I’ve always been curious about your name, I:Cube. What’s the story there? And with Château Flight?

I:Cube is a stupid name that is now stuck with me… no meaning behind that. It comes from my student days, and now it’s too late to change it. Château Flight is a funny story, also. We had to find a name quickly. We randomly picked a record cover and looked through the traclklist. It happened to be a John Barry track from a James Bond soundtrack.

I’m crazy about “Transpiration.” The title is unusual, too―what were you thinking when you named it?

Transpiration in french means “sweating.” This sums up the real club thing for me… the physical aspect… music for the body.

Your sound has changed pretty markedly over the years. What do you think has affected your style the most?

I’m always trying to improve my sound, but the main idea is still the same behind it all: Combining different types of moods in house music and bringing in different influences (contemporary music, soundtracks, library music, disco, techno, hip-hop). The sampling aspect has always been important too.

What are you looking forward to in 2012? Any big gigs, festivals, releases?

We’re planning to release some long versions of some of the tracks on the album. I have some live gigs in important clubs through Europe… clubs are the best for this kind of music.

Tell me about the funnest night you played within the past year or two.

Playing in an abandonned swimming pool in Paris during summertime. And playing in an apartment-cum-club in Berlin.

Finally, I understand you have a lot of gear. What’s your studio like? What kind of equipment do you use most often? Do you prefer using hardware to software or are you not biased?

Hardware vs. software is not really the issue. Now you can do everything with a laptop. I still have this love for machines, the energy and electricity you can feel. On the other hand, software makes things really easy and fast. So, in the end, I like both. I’m not an analog snob, but I think it’s the most intuitive way for making this kind of music. The screen puts a kind of distance [between the artist and the music], whereas a drum machine has this instant intuitive feel you cannot replicate.

A phenomenon in France where it shattered box-office records to become one of the highest grossing films of all time, The Intouchables tells the true story of the unlikely friendship between a handicapped millionaire (François Cluzet) and his unconventional Senegalese caretaker (Sy).

The Intouchables hits select theaters on May 25.

You’re virtually unknown here in the States, for now at least. What’s your background and how did you get to where you are now?

I actually started out in radio. I grew up with someone I’ve now known forever—a famous comedian in France—in the same neighborhood. He ran a radio program and one day he needed somebody for a last minute substitution, and we came up with this idea where I would play a retired soccer player from Senegal. We created this role for me and it worked out very well. After that, we decided to continue collaborating and created new characters that I could play. That’s how my career on the radio started out. After that, I did some work for Canal+ and that worked out as well. I think I started working with Éric [Toledano] and Olivier [Nakache], the directors of The Intouchables, on their second short film. Little by little, I took on more film roles. They were smaller roles until The Intouchables came along in which I’m in a leading role for the first time.

The Intouchables has gone onto become one of the highest grossing films of all time in France. What is it about this film that’s attracting such a wide audience?

Well, it’s about optimism and hope. I think there’s a general work climate these days that’s based around pessimism and everybody tends to be very gloomy. It’s difficult to see positive elements in the world around us now and even for the future. It’s comforting to go and see a movie like this where you see something positive. There are positive elements in the movie that are within everyone’s reach. It’s about friendship and about love. That’s something that anyone can attain.

The Los Angeles Times has said that the film has some ‘crying racism.’ Variety proclaimed that your role as Driss is ‘a role barely removed from the jolly house slave of yore.’ I don’t personally share these views, but I would love to get your thoughts on what certain American critics are saying.

I didn’t see any racist elements. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done this movie. I would need to see what those critics are talking about, specifically. I did read a few things here and there, but I want to make it clear that, in France, things are very different than the U.S. on a social level. The two societies have not evolved in the same way. In France, when you look at the poor and the privileged in the city suburbs, all immigrant communities live together and share the same environment. You’ll find people from places like Northern Africa and Portugal living together. In the U.S., it’s not like that. I would need more information on what these critics are saying, but we should look at all the details. Then we could explain the reasons behind it. It would take a long time and we would need a whole new movie about that.

And added to the fact that this is inspired by a true story. These characters weren’t invented in the filmmakers’ minds. Not entirely, anyway.

That’s true. All of these events really happened. I think that makes all of the positive elements of the film more powerful because they’re not products of invention. It’s something that really happened.

How faithful was the film to the actual story?

It’s quite faithful to the real story, but it is a film in the end with certain elements that were introduced in order for it to be more cinematic. The role of Philippe was close to the actual person whereas the character of Driss was written specifically for me. They introduced a lot of my own personality and attitude to the character. Driss is more distanced from the true person compared to Philippe. The story is adapted in that way. That was the real gift that the filmmakers gave me.

The Weinstein Company is packaging a remake of The Intouchables. What are your thoughts?

I think remakes are generally interesting provided that they’re not just cutting and pasting the original. As we were discussing, France and the U.S. have very different social climates, so it will be very interesting to see how it’s adapted to suit the American reality. Maybe by watching the remake we will better understand the elements that these American critics have taken issues with.

How do you steer your career at this point in your career?

I have no anticipation. [Laughs] I just trust my feelings. There’s no real strategy there. I’m very lucky now that I get to choose whatever I want to do. I can be wherever I want to be and do whatever I want to do.

We recently spoke to Audrey Tautou and discussed Michel Gondry’s The Foam of the Days, which you both star in. I think she mentioned that the current title is Mood Indigo.

The book it’s based on is called Foam of the Daze, but every time the book is republished, it’s given a new title like Mood Indigo.

What can you reveal?

There’s a very interesting cast on board: Romain Duris, Aïssa Maïga, Alain Chabat… The movie will be very close to Michel Gondry’s crazy universe that we’re all familiar with. It will be really interesting to see how he will pull it off. I really have no idea what to expect because I haven’t started shooting it. I’m going to let myself go, willfully dive into it and go wherever he wants to take me. I really trust him. He’s a hard person to follow, but I’m very happy to do it.

The Intouchables seems like the perfect springboard for your transition to Hollywood. Is that something you would be open to exploring?

Have you heard anything specific? Do you know more about it? [Laughs] I really have no idea. It depends on whom I end up meeting. It’s all about finding the right story, the right role, the right filmmaker, the right producer… I have no idea what will show up. I will follow my feelings and do whatever I find interesting. I don’t want to start asking myself these questions now. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I can’t imagine what will happen to me.

These chance encounters are so significant in the film industry. As director Nanni Moretti recently said in an interview, sometimes talent doesn’t even play into the equation. This doesn’t apply to you, obviously.

Meeting the right people is definitely really important. It has been a very significant factor in my own career. Talking about talent is really hard. It’s not for me to say whether I have talent or not. Other people have to tell me that. You definitely have to work hard. In terms of chance encounters and meeting new people, it’s a valuable element in everybody’s life, not necessarily just in cinema. To go back to The Intouchables, this is what the story is about. Philippe and Driss meet by chance and it changes both of their lives. In terms of lucky encounters, there’s a whole discussion about luck. What is luck?

Find Karley at Slutever. Totes NSFW.

What were you setting out to do exactly when you created Slutever?

When I created the blog in 2007, I was living in a squatted, disused hostel in south London with twelve other people, all in our early 20s. It was the sort of house where it wasn’t out of the ordinary to come home to a living room full of naked people on DMT having ritualistic sex, or a homeless Romanian family baking bread in the kitchen. Literally, both of those things happened. So I started writing the blog, intending mainly to create a written record of all the weird and extreme things that went on in the house. At the beginning the only people who read it were the people I lived with. I never intended it to be as big as it is now. Super weird!

How has the blog evolved over the years? How would you describe your core fan base, then and now?

Well, over time I’ve grown up a bit, become less ketamine-centric, and started to focus on interviewing other people about their lives, sex lives and fetishes. So basically, the blog isn’t just about me anymore. Currently, I like to think of Slutever as an investigation into sexual behavior. My goal is to create a place where myself and others can talk about sex—our sexual desires, experiences and fantasies—very openly and honestly, and in turn, help ourselves and others to better understand our sexualities. Sex is really weird and complicated, and deep down, we’re all equally disgusting. We might as well embrace it!

Do a lot of people, be it fans or naysayers, try to provoke you all the time because, if nothing else, you’re open-minded and progressive in a way that might make them uncomfortable?

I occasionally get emails where people call me things like “cum dumpster,” “slut from hell,” and the other day someone called me “baked lasagna”. Still not sure what that means. I love hate mail though, it’s so LOL.

What you find normal might be shocking to a lot of people. Is there perhaps something that you’re terrified of that a lot of people out there might feel indifferently about?

Recently, my dominatrix friend, Mistress Dee, asked me to shit on someone with her. I pee on people with her sometimes, and she said I’d make a lot more money for shit than for piss, but I said “no”. I would never do that, it’s like my worst nightmare. Not sure if other people would be indifferent about this, but I can’t think of anything else that really scares me… Sexually speaking, anyway.

Is it ever a struggle to confound expectations or is that something you never have to manually steer? With so much attention you’re getting now, does it ever worry you that you’re not being provocative enough?

I try not to think about it too much to be honest. I find that when I over think things it kills the magic, ya know?

You wrote for VICE prior to Slutever becoming a part of their programming, right? How did you get involved in the first place?

Yeah, I was an intern at the Vice UK office in 2008. I was asked to come in and help out the guy in charge of the Vice blog because the editor there thought Slutever was funny. I’ve been a regular contributor ever since.

What do you make of this partnership between Vice and yourself? Is it a very symbiotic relationship?

I think so. My main goal with the Vice show is to create the visual version of Slutever and to bring more readers to my blog. And if I had to guess, I’d say that I’m introducing some of of my tween girl fanbase to Vice, too. So, it’s a plus on both sides.

Tell us about this band you’re supposedly in.

I was in a band called Indie Boys Don’t Get Boners for a couple of years back in like 2008, maybe? We had a song called “You’re Gay, It’s OK, I’ll Fuck You Anyway”. We were kind of horrible, but in a good way.

I’m sure you could care less whether someone visits your blog to read your posts or just to look at your boobs, but how important is it that there’s a pretty face behind Slutever, especially nowadays with your video projects and all?

We live in a world where image is important, so I suppose not looking gross can’t hurt your cause. And I get a kick out of exploiting my body, so I don’t mind if some people come just for the boobs. But I don’t want the boobs to ever override the content. At heart, Slutever is about the writing.

When you’re in a relationship, does that greatly influence what you’re willing and not willing to explore with Slutever?

Well, I’m lucky enough to have a boyfriend who couldn’t care less about what I write about as long as when I write about him, I make him sound like “a benevolent scholar”. That was his only Slutever requirement.

In around 2006, the two decided to pursue their other, more personal musical interests and put Filur on the back-burner. Barfod went on to work on his WhoMadeWho project while Bjørke began releasing solo material in addition to doing A&R for a fledgling label his friends made―Fake Diamond―as well as managing for his close friend and Danish house and techno mainstay Trentemøller.

Bjørke recently made his way back to the States to spin a few parties in anticipation of his recently release third long-player, Fool. We checked out his set at Let’s Play House in Brooklyn and, a few days later, caught up with him in a more official capacity via Skype. Read on for the full, rather definitive Q&A we enjoyed with the man.

Fool is out now on hfn Music.

Tell me about how you started off in music. You made Filur in the late 90s… let’s talk a little about how that came about and what you were doing before.

I was pretty young then. It was in ‘97 that I started working at an advertising agency because I wanted to be an art director. I was into music, but I wasn’t doing it. Then I met this guy, Thomas Barfod, who’s now the drummer in WhoMadeWho. Neither of us had been doing music, but he bought an Atari computer and mono sampler, and we started making beats, basically. We had a weekly music night, as we called it… and we started making small tracks and demos, mostly inspired by the whole Masters At Work, jazzy, disco-y house, which was big at the time, I guess. We were really into [the scene], but we didn’t know how to go forward. [Eventually,] we met this singer and she added some vocals to the tracks and things worked out. We got a big record deal really fast and a lot of money was put into the Filur project!

As an American, I don’t really know much about Filur. What was that like for you?

We weren’t really in touch with a lot of the stuff that was going on―we were just doing what we were told, really. Make more hits! Make something for the radio! So we were constantly doing that and trying to follow-up with the next single, the next album. So, after three albums―I believe this was something like 2006―we just decided to take a break from the project and each other. We were just fed up with being Filur and being together; it was a full-time job. We had an office and a studio that was paid for by the record label―the ”good old major record label days ”

So how big were you guys?

We never really made it in America. We were there for some meetings and Winter Music Conference, but we never really released there. It was mostly Europe and Asia. We were breaking in Japan… and central Europe. Mostly Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and Denmark, of course. We had a few chart hits in the UK as well. We were some of the first ones from Denmark to do electronic music, which is part of why I think it became a big deal here. And we won some music awards and stuff. We kind of started off doing pop, just two guys in a bedroom… and we didn’t really know, at the time, what that meant and where it was leading us. So, since 2006, we’ve gone in a completely different direction. Thomas was moving into WhoMadeWho and I started DJ’ing a lot more than before. I guess I haven’t really stopped since. And then I started doing solo albums. We still work together sometimes, as Filur. Last year, we did an album project―but we’re just doing it for Denmark now. Basically, people remember us here, so we just do it for fun… we team up with the most recognizable Danish singers and do one-off tracks with them.

I listened to that―Faces.

Yeah, it’s basically ten different singers to ten different songs, all of which were made as singles that we could see on the radio. So it’s very calculated in that sense. I can say that without blinking. It’s for Denmark… we’re a very small country and I don’t believe it affects my career as a solo artist or producer. It’s more of a fun project―we do it because it’s fun and it’s easy in the sense that Tomas and I know each other so well after all these years that its quite natural for us to sit down and make tracks that works out as we want them to.

So what’s the difference between your solo work and that of Filur?

Well, it’s different first because it’s just me. I don’t have to argue with another producer about it. And then, also, because all my emotion now goes somehow deeper into [my own stuff]. And that’s what’s changed over the years: Filur going from the main project to this being the main project. I’m always working on something new in my own name, and that’s where the action is right now, where my focus is. Tomas feels the same about WhoMadeWho and has done so since he started working with them, so its a neutral feeling.

It almost sounds like Filur was more of a day job.

Yeah, at the time, when it was really running, with the singles and the hits and the travelling―yeah, it was a lot of fun. But it had its time and its place and I think we’re past that now. Filur is now more a playground that we go back to whenever we feel like it and thats a really good position to be in.

That leads me to the next thing: What’s the scene like in Denmark? I don’t know that many Danes. Like… when I lived in L.A., I knew Filip [Nikolic of Ima Robot, Guns ‘N’ Bombs, and, most recently, Poolside], but that’s sort of it. Him and you. So, what’s the scene like over there? And how attached do you feel to the Scandinavian world?

I mean, it’s a very small country… there’s one million people living in Copenhagen and five or six million people living in the whole country. So it’s smaller than just New York in that sense. The scene is super small and everyone knows everyone. There’s a lot of collaborations going on and also a lot of cool acts. Like, Trentemøller, whom I manage, is from Copenhagen as well. There’s WhoMadeWho, as I was telling you about. When Saints Go Machine. Kenton Slash Demon, Taragana Pyarana… DJ Noir… and they’re all from different scenes. From techno to electronica, indie and to the more house-y side of things.

It’s unfortunate but sort of true, I think, that the scene is overshadowed by Sweden and Norway. Why do you think that is?

Through the years, ever since Abba, Sweden has been very strong on the pop producer side, then with Max Martin working with Britney Spears to Backstreet Boys. They’re very good at fostering musicians as well. I don’t know why that is. I think they have a very good system there, with good music schools. And they seem to take care of their musicians in a different way, which is maybe why [the country] is spawning more talent.

Wasn’t Aqua from Denmark?

Yeah. Two of the guys are actually my friends. I co-wrote a track, [“Dirty Little Pop Song,”] for the new album with them, [Megalomania]. They just asked me to come into the studio. It was alot of fun to work with them. Very different from what Im used to by. But a fun challenge for me.

Cool! I understand that you used to do A&R work?

Yeah. Like, four years ago, I discovered Oh Land, who now lives in New York. I found her through MySpace, through a couple of demos, and decided to help her make her first album here, in 2007. Some friends of mine were starting up this label called Fake Diamond and they needed an A&R so I brought in Oh Land when I started. Then I built up the artist roster for the label until the end of last year when we parted ways for different reasons. I feel like I did what I had to do there, though… I created the label’s profile in a sense by signing a lot of cool artists, lots of whom are good friends of mine.

Being on that side of the table is maybe not for me. I’m an artist myself and I know how artists feel and what they like and what they don’t like and what a good contract should look like. So, sitting on the other side of the table…. it was not right for me, in a way. I’m quite happy [to not be doing that anymore]. Now, beside Trentemøller, whom I’ve managed for four or five years, I’ve started to manage a band called Reptile Youth, which is great. I’m always on the artists side, which is where I want to be.

How did you meet the Poker Flat guys?

Because I started managing Trentemøller, who was signed there. I had to meet them as I was taking over everything that had to do with his business. That’s what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis. That’s why we’re very close; It’s a proper job, [the managing stuff]. That alone fills my day.

How did you start managing for Trentemøller?

We were old friends. Tomas and I, we used to have our own label, [Peach], and one of the first artists we signed was Trentemøller. This was back in 2002 or 2003. We signed, like, four tracks from him. We knew it was great, but we didn’t know we were holding gold in our hands. We didn’t get around to releasing it on vinyl because along came Naked Music, which ripped the record out of our hands and paid us out. It was fine because it was what Trentemøller wanted. Over the years, we started touring the same places and DJ’ing the same places and, all of a sudden, it just made sense that I [become his manager]. He was having a lot of success, but wasn’t really on top of the whole accounting thing… and didn’t have control over what was happening. So I said I’d help him out because we were friends.

Well, we should talk about Fool. It’s your third one… and I was wondering how you met Dominique [Keegan from Plant Music, the label that put out your first record in the U.S.]

Yes, In Gumbo. I met him in New York. I was there with Tomas… we DJ’d at a loft party, somewhere in Manhattan. Holmar Filipsson was throwing it.

Oh, nice―from Thugfucker.

Yeah! We met Dom there and I realized he was the dude from Plant Music… and I was really into The Sound of Young New York then―that compilation changed my perspective of music. We came from this disco-house, cheesy sort of vibe, and then all of a sudden, this cool indie dance music was coming out of New York. It made me open my eyes completely. We kind of became friends when I was there and met up the year after at the Winter Music Conference. We kept in touch, and I had [Dom’s band] the Glass over to play in Copenhagen, and I would play in New York sometimes. It all started back then. When I did my first solo album, I sent it to Dom, and he said he’d put it out.

Why did you call the new album Fool?

I should’ve never done that because now everyone’s going to ask me. First of all, it’s because it’s good to be a fool sometimes. It’s good to fool around… there’s many ways in which you can interpret the word “fool.” It’s also a self-ironic view on being a DJ and travelling around and being part of this “scene,” whatever it is… and growing older, and looking at yourself, and all of a sudden asking yourself what it all really means. So it’s a self-ironic look at myself as well as a playful way of making music.

When you get into [DJ’ing] you’re a part of the party… you’re single and you’re ready to mingle, you know? [Laughs] You have all these benefits of being a DJ and drinking a lot, having a lot of fun. But then your body starts to be affected by that and it doesn’t make as much anymore. I mean, I still love to DJ and I love the music. And I love having friends in the scene, like Dominique, for example. Still, though, at the end of the day, I want to go home to my girlfriend and my cat.

It’s not that I’m complaining or anything―I enjoy it all still―but I’m starting to pick my battles. I choose clubs where I know everything is working or where I know the promoter well. For example, when I played at Le Bain [at the Standard, New York]… and when I played with you [at Let’s Play House] because I’ve known James for years. It’s becoming more and more about being selective about my gigs, and being selective about the cities I go to, and selective about the clubs I play at because they have a good soundsystem or a cool crowd or whatever. That’s much more important to me than being in a big room and playing peak hour. It’s all about what I feel like doing, which I guess is sort of a spoiled spot to be in, but I deserve it since I’ve been in it for more than a decade, right? [Laughs]

Back to the album, who is Jacob Bellens, the guy who sings on a few of the tracks? I really like those songs.

He’s on four on the vinyl and five on the digital [version]. He’s in bands called Murder and I Got You On Tape as well. From my perspective, he’s the best Danish singer there is around―and he’s a great songwriter as well. I just asked him if he wanted to work together. We became friends [while working on the second album, Standing On Top of Utopia], which is why we continued our collaboration on Fool. It’s somewhat different than what I play out as a DJ; it’s not so much for the club―it’s more for the radio.

I like that about the record. It’s difficult―even for a house or disco fan like myself―to enjoy that sort of music when you’re, like, working or at home or whatever. It’s not really the default.

Exactly. That’s why it’s much more interesting to actually make songs. Also, that way, you can make a footprint―most people won’t remember some 12” on some label, but they might remember this one song that had a lyric they could relate to or a voice… But still, I like to do the other side as well, with arrangements that go further than the usual three-, four-minute radio style. That’s why I divided it into two different sides this time.

Also, who’s Emma Acs? She sings on one of the songs with Jacob and I love her voice.

She’s also from Denmark. She’s a young new artist from Denmark… she’s 19 and has her own band Emma Acs & the Inbred Family. I kind of spotted her just before her first album came out―this was during the time I was A&R’ing at Fake Diamond. Another label beat me to [her]! Later, I contacted her and asked her if she wanted to do a duet with Jacob and she did.

When you write songs, do you do the instrumentals and Jacob does the lyrics or what?

Normally, when I work with singers, I do full production with chords and /or a bass line, and then they sing on it. But, with Jacob, it’s different: I get demos from him that he’s recorded at home at his piano or with his acoustic guitar. Then I get a demo a capella version and build the production around that in the direction that I feel it should go. In that sense, it’s different from how I normally work, and it’s great.

Curiously, what sort of studio do you have?

I just got a new space that I havent moved into yet. I’ve been recording at home for the last couple of years but its going to be nice to get out of the house. Me and Thomas had this studio when we were in Filur, but we gave it up in 2007 or something. It’s also been great, working at home, but, [starting this] summer, I’m going to go to the new studio. I’m at home all the time and that kind of bums me out. I try to go out for meetings every day, but, sometimes―and especially during the winter―I’ll… not leave the apartment for three days [at a time]! It’s really pathetic. [Laughs]

What’s your plan for this year?

There’s a single coming out mid May… that has remixes from Permanent Vacation, PillowTalk, Hannulelauri, and Martin Brodin… I’m really excited about that remix package. There is also going to be a music video for that song and we already started planning the third single for after summer.

And then I will play some more DJ gigs, of course! I decided last year that I didn’t want to do [a live performance] because it’s too time-consuming to put a proper band together and Jacob is too busy with his other bands. I couldn’t make it happen, really, and that’s okay―I kind of like keeping it simple and just DJ’ing. I’m going to play quite a lot all over the place, like Hamburg, Munich, Istanbul, Bucharest, Paris, and maybe New York again in July.